Good evening,

As the week of deals draws to a close, the biggest talking point in the market remains Dexus’ play for AMP’s Collimate Capital (nee AMP Capital).

There are plenty of war stories going around about AMP – how it dropped the ball in institutional funds management, who’s to blame and what the wealth manager is likely to do with its new loot.

There’s also plenty of chat about Dexus – why it would want to get into infrastructure equity management and whether it will be able to retain Collimate’s clients and funds under management.

What’s clear, though, is that the property managers are searching for new ways to expand their third-party fund management arms. And infrastructure equity has emerged as a preferred method of doing it, thanks to the asset class’ long-dated nature and the share clients with property managers.

Street Talk is tipping there will be more to come in the sector. Real estate bankers, normally operating in their own world of cap rates and balance sheet support, are teaming up with FIG (financial institutions group) and infrastructure sector colleagues to try to shake some more infrastructure managers loose.

Elsewhere in Street Talk, we report on a new $500 million deal at mortgage group Bluestone, and unveil the latest small-caps boutique to hit Sydney’s fund management scene.

Happy reading,

Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood
Street Talk Editors